This invention relates to crates. More particularly, the invention relates to reinforced stackable crates molded from synthetic resin materials and having an open top and an opening in the front wall which provides product visibility and facilitates product removal.
The use of material handling crates formed from synthetic resin materials, hereinafter referred to as plastic, is currently expanding very rapidly, particularly in the dairy industry as milk crates. Injection molded plastic milk crates have many advantages over the conventional wire frame or wooden milk crates, and are rapidly replacing these prior art milk crates in many geographical areas. Among the advantages of the plastic crates is their light weight, the ease with which they may be cleaned, and their neat and attractive appearance, which is not materially altered with age. This expanded use has been, in part, made possible by the practice or reinforcing the crates adjacent the open top portion by metal rings or bars. This practice has been particularly useful in heavy-duty crates or tote boxes such as those employed in the dairy industry or as field crates for vegetables or the like. Numerous arrangements have been devised for reinforcing the top portions of such crates, and one such arrangement is illustrated in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,182.
Plastic crates of the general type as described in the above-cited patent present many problems with respect to satisfactory stacking not encountered in the conventional wire frame or wooden crates. In order to overcome the stacking problem, previous patents, such as commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,292, have provided reinforcing rings to improve the stackability of a conventional four-sided milk crate.
It has become highly desirable to use a stackable crate which has three sides, rather than four, to eliminate the need for shelving, enhance product display, and facilitate product removal. Stackable molded plastic milk crates are known which have dispensing openings formed in at least one side wall, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,997,055 and 3,997,074. Crates of this type have afforded the merchant great convenience in displaying and dispensing products, such as milk in containers, to the consumer. These crates may be suitably stacked for retail display on an open floor to provide additional shelf space in a retail establishment, and the milk containers may be removed by the purchaser directly through the opening without having to remove empty crates from the top of the stack. This enables the merchant to utilize his fixed shelving for other goods, and to avoid having to remove the individual containers from the crates and stack them on other shelves. However, a serious disadvantage in known crates of this type is that the cross-beams which extend along the upper margin of the crate often bend or twist when the crate is heavily loaded. The stack may therefore be rendered unstable and may even overturn if more than a few crates are stacked on one another. Thus, such known designs cannot efficiently be used for warehouse stacking where it is necessary to store palletized crates on the order of ten to fifteen crates high. None of the prior designs provides a stackable three-sided crate which maximizes product visibility, allows for easy consumer removal of the product, yet provides sufficient stacking strength to stack pelletized shipments of crates for warehouse storage.